Three Kingdoms: The identity of the financial master behind the scenes was exposed by Cao Cao

Cao Cao smiled and agreed with Pang Tong's speculation.

Pang Tong suddenly understood, raised his hands and said in admiration:"It turns out that when your Majesty won the victory in Xin'an, he had already laid out a strategy to defeat Tongguan. It must be a far-reaching plan.""

"Of course this is not my far-reaching plan, but the prince reminded me."

Cao Cao looked at Cao Yuan with a smile.

Pang Tong looked shocked, and then he realized that after the victory in Xin'an that day, Cao Yuan whispered something to Cao Cao and said something.

After severely damaging Ma Chao that day, Cao Cao wanted to lead his army to pursue him. , and took Tongguan directly.

However, Cao Yuan pointed out that Tongguan was strong and a frontal attack was difficult, and persuaded Cao Cao not to pursue it in an exhaustive manner, giving Ma Chao enough time to mobilize troops from Pubang Pass.

After that, they took advantage of the emptiness to move north to Hedong, and attacked from Pubang Pass in one fell swoop. Enter Guanzhong

"It turns out to be the prince's plan. This plan is really ingenious, and I am convinced of it."

Pang Tong bowed to Cao Yuan.

All the generals were refreshed and looked at Cao Yuan with admiration.

"Your Majesty, Ma Chao's detailed plans must be spread around our army to monitor our army's movements at any time."

"Although the prince's plan is clever, he is afraid that as soon as our troops are mobilized, Ma Chao will notice it and increase his troops at Pubang Pass. What should he do?"

Guo Jia raised concerns again.

Cao Cao frowned slightly and looked at Cao Yuan anxiously.

Cao Yuan took a sip of wine and said unhurriedly:"So, the key to the surprise attack on Pu Ban is how to hide it from Ma Chao's eyes and ears. , sent a surprise force to quietly go to Hedong"

"Prince, could it be that you have some means to hide this from Ma Chao?"

Cao Cao saw the clues.

Cao Yuan smiled secretly, and unhurriedly revealed his strategies.

……

Tongguan.

Ma Chao and his remnants of the Qin army fled into Tongguan, dragging their exhausted bodies.

In the main hall, the candlelight flickered and there was an air of dead silence.

Ma Chao and his advisers and generals all looked sad, shaking their heads and sighing.

In the battle of Xin'an, the entire Montenegrin army was wiped out.

Nearly half of the main force of the 100,000 Qin army was lost. Wu Yi and other generals were all killed in the rebellion.

It was a real fiasco.

Moreover, countless military supplies were abandoned all the way back to Tongguan, and the losses were immeasurable.

Ma Chao had a premonition that his father, Ma Teng, would be shocked when the news of this tragic defeat was sent back to Chang'an.

The army and people of Qin will definitely panic

"Zhang Yan!"

"It’s all this useless Montenegrin bandit!"

"If he hadn't fallen into Cao Yuan's trick, how could we have been defeated to this extent!"

Ma Chao punched the table and put all the blame for the defeat on the dead Zhang Yan.

Seeing this, Zhang Song and others took advantage of the situation and cursed Zhang Yan for his incompetence.

After all, the blame always falls on the dead. It's cheaper than Ma Chao to blame them for their incompetence.

"Unexpectedly, the Wei army actually improved the repeating crossbow and created a divine crossbow with 20 rounds per crossbow!"

"It is not surprising that the Black Mountain Army was defeated by the Wei Army."

Fazheng sighed.

There was silence in the hall, everyone's faces were covered with shadows, and there was a look of fear between their eyebrows.

"What are you all doing with your heads down?"

"We still have 60,000 soldiers and horses available, we still have Tongguan in hand, and we have three states as backup!"

"Even if we are defeated by Cao's thieves, the worst we can do is defend Tongguan!"

Ma Chao saw that everyone was dejected, so he shouted to encourage people.

The morale of everyone was slightly boosted.

"His Highness the Crown Prince's words make sense."

"I think we should immediately ask His Majesty to send troops and horses from the south of Puban Pass to Tongguan to strengthen defense."

"We have Xiongguan in hand, and reinforcements can arrive in time. Even if Cao Cao's thieves have millions of troops, what should they fear?"

Zhang Song took advantage of the situation to propose a plan.

He finished his words.

But Fazheng questioned:"If reinforcements are transferred from Puban Pass, the troops on the Puban front line will be reduced. Then Cao Yuan is deceitful. What if he proposes to Cao Cao a plan to cross Chencang secretly? What should we do if we sneak attack Pubang Pass and enter Guanzhong from Hedong?"

"Filial piety makes sense. This Cao Yuan should not be underestimated."

Ma Chao suffered a big loss and did not dare to underestimate Cao Yuan any more.

"Then Cao Yuan may indeed resort to a plan to cross Chencang secretly"

"But our careful eyes and ears are spread all around the Wei army, monitoring the movement of the Wei army's troops and horses at all times."

"If Cao Cao wanted to attack Pubang Pass, he would need at least 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers and horses. Our ears and eyes would be aware of such a large-scale deployment of troops and horses immediately."

"At worst, we can just send troops back to Pubang Pass to support them, so there is nothing to fear."

Zhang Song said disapprovingly.

Fazheng was speechless.

The worries on Ma Chao's face disappeared and he said:"Yongnian's words are reasonable. Tongguan is the most important thing. Let's first mobilize the soldiers and horses from Puban Pass to assist Tongguan, and then send more detailed troops to Hongnong County. , let me closely monitor the movements of the Wei army."

"promise!"

The ministers took the order.

Ma Chao then sent people to Chang'an and asked Ma Teng to issue an order to quickly dispatch 20,000 soldiers and horses from Pubang Pass south to Tongguan for reinforcements.

However, the number of soldiers and horses left behind at Pubang Pass was less than 6,000. people

……

Hongnong County, Weiying.

Thousands of miles of ice, thousands of miles of snow drifting, the sky is freezing.

The Wei army moved out again, heading west through the snow, and rushed towards Tongguan.

"Prince, God is really helping me. Once such a heavy snow falls, the river should be frozen!"

Cao Cao looked at Cao Yuan with joy.

Cao Yuan smiled lightly:"I estimate that Ma Chao has almost transferred the soldiers and horses from Puban Pass to Tongguan."

The words just fell.

Pang Tong rushed over and said happily:"Your Majesty, Prince, Zhang Wenyuan just sent back a secret report. Ma Teng has transferred 20,000 troops and horses from Puban Pass to the south. The ice of the Yellow River on the Puban line is now gone. Frozen!"

This news cheered up Cao Cao and he couldn't help but laugh loudly.

Cao Yuan sneered and said:"Father, everything is ready, it's time to take action."

"good! Cao

Cao looked at the generals and asked,"Which of you is willing to lead an army to surprise Pubang Pass?""

The generals were all excited and asked for battle.

"Father. But Cao

Yuan handed over his hand:"This battle is related to whether we can successfully enter Guanzhong. I am willing to lead the elite to fight." Cao

Cao said happily:"Okay, let the prince take action and lead the army directly to Pubang Pass!""

"Your Majesty accepts the decree!"

That day, Cao Yuan left the camp and headed to Shaanxi City to cross the border.

……

Four days later.

Hedong County, Anyi City.

Cao Yuan was already standing on the Hedong Administrative Office, looking at the wind and snow ahead.

A few days ago, Cao Yuan bid farewell to Cao Cao, crossed the Yellow River with 800 red horses, and rushed to Hedong County.

Of course Cao Yuan knew that if there was a large-scale deployment of troops, Ma Chao would be aware of his careful tactics and send a warning to Ma Chao.

Therefore, he only took eight hundred fine horses to go north to Hedong.

Cao Yuan naturally knew that it was impossible to break through Pubang Pass with just these 800 elite cavalry.

At this moment, he was waiting for the surprise army to come to Anyi City to meet him.